We read the following 5 chapters aloud as a class- a lot of what is written in these next five chapters allowed for great conversation and discussion.
*Warning- Chapter 30 has a lot of sensitive material, pertaining to suicide- I felt it important to read aloud this chapter to my kids as we could have an educated and age-appropriate discussion about this topic
*Warning- Chapter 30 has a lot of sensitive material, pertaining to suicide- I felt it important to read aloud this chapter to my kids as we could have an educated and age-appropriate discussion about this topic
Chapter 26: Halloween
On p.69, Summer tells August: "I feel like I can tell you anything." Why do you think Summer feels this way? What is it about August that leads Summer to think this?
Chapter 27: School Pictures
Vocabulary
1). Phobia
2). Aversion
Chapter 28: The Cheese Touch
1). In this chapter, August picks up on the fact that other kids don't want to touch him or get near him:
"Now, there are eight kids in the elective, and seven of them were squished together on one side of the plate while one of them- me- had loads of room on the other side. So of course I noticed this, but I was hoping Ms. Rubin wouldn't notice this, because I didn't want her to say something. But of course she did notice this, and of course she said something" (71).
- Is this a typical response for a teacher? Did Ms. Rubin do the right thing? Why or why not? If you were August, would you have wanted her to say something?
2). On p.72, August refers to the way his peers are treating him as the "Cheese Touch"-
"I think it's like the Cheese Touch in Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The kids in that story were afraid they'd catch the cooties if they touched the old moldy cheese on the basketball court. At Beecher Prep, I'm the old moldy cheese."
- What do you think the kids are afraid of?
Chapter 29: Costumes
1). Why is Halloween August's favorite holidays?
2). On p.74, August describes Via's meltdown on Halloween:
"On the morning of Halloween, Via had this big crying meltdown about something. Via's always been so calm and cool, but this year she's had a couple of these kinds of fits" (74)
Think back to what we know about Via- what do you think is happening with Via? Why do you think she is upset?
Chapter 30: The Bleeding Scream
1). Consider the moment when August first walks down the hallway in his Bleeding Scream costume: "one kid wearing the same exact costume as mine, long white skull face oozing fake, red blood, high-fived me as we passed each other on the stairs. I have no idea who he was, and he had no idea who I was, and I wondered for a second if he would have ever done that if he'd known it was me under the mask" (76)
What do you think the student would have done? What is August feeling in this moment?
2). Read page 77 and consider what Jack Will shares with Julian and Miles. How would you feel if you were August? What are you feeling towards Jack Will right now?
* We had a great conversation and discussion about this moment in our class. My fourth graders were really shocked by Jack Will's comments and extremely disappointed and dismayed. They felt great empathy for August and imagined what it would feel like if they were in August's shoes... We also discussed what prompted Jack Will to say such cruel things, why he said it, did he really mean it?, etc. It was interesting to hear some of my students' reactions and some were more forgiving than others... many of them felt that there was no excuse for Jack Will to have said what he did.
On p.69, Summer tells August: "I feel like I can tell you anything." Why do you think Summer feels this way? What is it about August that leads Summer to think this?
Chapter 27: School Pictures
Vocabulary
1). Phobia
2). Aversion
Chapter 28: The Cheese Touch
1). In this chapter, August picks up on the fact that other kids don't want to touch him or get near him:
"Now, there are eight kids in the elective, and seven of them were squished together on one side of the plate while one of them- me- had loads of room on the other side. So of course I noticed this, but I was hoping Ms. Rubin wouldn't notice this, because I didn't want her to say something. But of course she did notice this, and of course she said something" (71).
- Is this a typical response for a teacher? Did Ms. Rubin do the right thing? Why or why not? If you were August, would you have wanted her to say something?
2). On p.72, August refers to the way his peers are treating him as the "Cheese Touch"-
"I think it's like the Cheese Touch in Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The kids in that story were afraid they'd catch the cooties if they touched the old moldy cheese on the basketball court. At Beecher Prep, I'm the old moldy cheese."
- What do you think the kids are afraid of?
Chapter 29: Costumes
1). Why is Halloween August's favorite holidays?
2). On p.74, August describes Via's meltdown on Halloween:
"On the morning of Halloween, Via had this big crying meltdown about something. Via's always been so calm and cool, but this year she's had a couple of these kinds of fits" (74)
Think back to what we know about Via- what do you think is happening with Via? Why do you think she is upset?
Chapter 30: The Bleeding Scream
1). Consider the moment when August first walks down the hallway in his Bleeding Scream costume: "one kid wearing the same exact costume as mine, long white skull face oozing fake, red blood, high-fived me as we passed each other on the stairs. I have no idea who he was, and he had no idea who I was, and I wondered for a second if he would have ever done that if he'd known it was me under the mask" (76)
What do you think the student would have done? What is August feeling in this moment?
2). Read page 77 and consider what Jack Will shares with Julian and Miles. How would you feel if you were August? What are you feeling towards Jack Will right now?
* We had a great conversation and discussion about this moment in our class. My fourth graders were really shocked by Jack Will's comments and extremely disappointed and dismayed. They felt great empathy for August and imagined what it would feel like if they were in August's shoes... We also discussed what prompted Jack Will to say such cruel things, why he said it, did he really mean it?, etc. It was interesting to hear some of my students' reactions and some were more forgiving than others... many of them felt that there was no excuse for Jack Will to have said what he did.
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